Emily Buddendeck continues to oversee a diverse stable of shows at the alternative performance and gallery space SSNOVA. But now instead of a show here and there, she's scheduling, promoting and sometimes participating in 50 or more shows a year.

"I'm a volunteer director," she says comparing SSNOVA to her paying gig at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. "Lately, I've been planning the direction and growth of the gallery and working with the artists and inquisitors assisting however I can."

That assistance is what she is known for: helping others and, through this artistic nurturing, creating a viable alternative arts scene.

She's also in the scene. In 2002, she showed her own work in group exhibitions at the Carnegie Center for Visual and Performing Arts and SSNOVA and curated a successful group show at the Weston Art Gallery, Beauty and the Beholder.

"I am currently working on VERSUS - a site-specific project funded by the city of Cincinnati to be exhibited in the summer 2003," she says. "It illustrates an individual's personal battle of wills, internal opposition."

She's also in the process of planning for an increase in SSNOVA's space, as well as a new direction. The gallery, housed in the former headquarters of the Mockbee Co. on Central Parkway in Brighton, will expand by a third when the company completes its move out later this year. As for the new direction, "I can't be more specific," she says. "I don't want to announce anything until it's officially in place."